DUST
by spark n' Jetz
Summary: A prolonged war. As the New Sovereignty grew, the small little rebellion start up became a threat. And when threats appear, so does war. Now, instead of Earth bound fights, humanity has extended it's power to other planets. With evolving technology and war spreading throughout the Sol system, will our race survive for what's to come?


-DUST-

Authors note: This story, called Dust, relates to both planetside 2 and Dust 514, though later I'll try to branch off and make it not as related as it is of it's current state.

Also, this is current story that I'm writing, and I would appreciate feedback.

Chapter 1

"Copy. Drop in five,"our commander says over the radio. I grip the controls for the drop pod. I know what's coming. Suddenly I'm lurched forwards, and then backwards, as my pod launches, trying to get its bearings. The pod shudders violently, as I look my own screen, seeing a dozen other drop pods descending, like me. I'm dropping so quickly. 500 meters until I hit the ground. 300. 100. 50. All the sudden, my pod slams into the ground, and like always, I'm dazed for a few seconds. And then I snap back into action. I grab my MRX-5 assault rifle, holster SCAR-L pistol to my belt, grab a grenade, and kick open the door. I'm met with a rocky canyon desert. Several other troops rush out with me.

"Listen up squad! Head to the waypoint, and we'll lay out the plan from there,"my squad leader yells over the gunfire. "Oh, and try not to get shot!"

I sprint over to the waypoint, which was a big barren pile of rocks morphed into one, which would offer us limited protection, but protection all the same. A gust of wind hits me in the face, spreading sand all over my visor. As I scramble to wipe it off, I'm nearly hit by plasma rounds from the New Sovereignty, which is enough to send me scrambling for cover. I dash and manage to reach the waypoint, where ¾ of our squad is already located. We climb onto the rocks and boulders, firing, ducking, and then reloading. I fire my MRX-5 into the distant blue purple and black clad soldiers that currently resist us. The New Sovereignty. A group of scientists and soldiers that decided the government was just not 'good enough' and led a revolt in our society, fleeing to a nearby moon. There, they developed plasma technology, and then began to terrorize everything everywhere, with plasma bombardments and advanced weaponry and vehicles. We tried to stop them, but the it was too far gone. The reason we weren't sitting on moon rocks right now was because the New Sovereignty managed to terraform this place, and turned the moon into an inhabitable place, however a large part, maybe ⅔ is still covered in this grey silky sand, called DUST.

We have absolutely no idea what it is, but it isn't normal. See, because they aren't really grains. When you peer and squint at the DUST you can't see the tiny tiny rocks. It's just….just there. It's still being investigated. Nobody knows why it's covered in this substance, but there's certainly a lot of it. But interesting enough, if you scoop a dozen handfuls and put it on a scale, it weighs to near nothing. So now the military is scrambling to use this weightless substance, for whatever reasons. Great. More strange stuff we shouldn't be messing with. Anyway, back to the point.

Battle erupted between the two factions, and both warred over planets. Chaos. And here I was, stuck in the middle of this. Fabulous, right?

My MRX-5 assault rifle runs out of ammo almost instantly, annoying me to no end. I needed to get a better weapon. Each magazine had 25 rounds, and I could carry up to four of them. So yeah, not a lot of ammo. Fortunately, I'm nimble. My ACA suit's (advanced combat assault) prototype was first developed around 50 years ago, because as time went on, huge bulky armor and helmets and everything got in the way of operations. Thirty pound vests, armor, and just everything was to unorthodox.

so the government set about trying to create something new, which resulted in the ACA, which was not only less than five pounds, it modified and boosted the users ability to do all sorts of things, like running, sprinting, and not to mention the HUD (heads up display) which was attached to the visor, a little holographic screen, that told you pretty much everything you need to know.

I peek around the corner, switch to my pistol, and fire several rounds towards the enemy. I analyze my squadmates. All twelve of us are here now. A couple are technicians to my relief. See, ACA was developed into different classes, like the ARA (advanced recon assault suit) or the ATA (advanced technician assault suit) and so on. Technicians get give ammo, even materialize it, hack buildings and locks, and have repair devices that can fix up a vehicle in no time.

"Ammo?"I ask the nearest tech. He nods, and materializes some ammo for the MRX5, which I gladly grab, nodding in thanks. With that, I slap the clip in, and start laying down fire towards the New Sovereignty again. Thankfully, this gun has basically zero recoil, and I'm firing in short bursts, making my shots pretty accurate, downing at least two soldiers. Just as I place a new clip in, we are given orders to push up after a bombing run by two Fury's, which are huge big planes that will literally tear up everything in a fury explosion (no pun intended). They were meant to dig out defenses and eliminate and if not dazing the soldiers, so we could pick them easily. My suit has the option the mute all volume going around me, so I don't have to cover my ears and wait for the explosion. I don't hear it, but I feel the huge shake, and I'm nearly thrown off my feet. I regain my balance, and aim my scope at the enemy, ready to see a foe tripping and walking around dazed, easy picking.

But there was nothing. I furrow my eyebrow. Come on…...I wait. Suddenly New Sovereignty soldiers poured out with guns blazing. They weren't fazed in the least bit. I was wondering why, until I see a shimmering blue shield around them. I curse.

"Lot a good that did us!"one of us yelled. Plasma rounds lit up all of our shields. We took out our fair share though. They dropped like flies, but the waves of enemies soon overwhelmed.

"Everybody get out!"yells squad commander, and we bail, fleeing like ants running from a human. A soldier next to me stumbles, fried by plasma rounds. Two more soldiers fall. I bring up my squad list. There are seven. of us left alive. I scramble for cover as plasma rounds fly like little purple birds. Little purple KILLER birds.

I shake the image away. "Everybody rondevu at the waypoint. We'll regroup from there." Our commander says over the comms, trying his best to stay comm. Another cry of a fallen soldier, who slumps to the ground. I glance around the familiar flare of a waypoint, and spot it at a hilly ledge of rocks that would provide reasonable and adequate cover.

As I soon as I dive into the mess of rocks on the hill, I feel safer. Well, until the purple killer birdies fly straight into the rock that I'm hiding behind. I shake my head. No need to fool around on the battlefield. I peek out, and let out more short bursts before my shields deplete completely. I smack another clip into my rifle.

The New Sovereignty take the liberty of charging straight forward at us again. It's hopeless. "Listen up squad! See you at the respawn chamber. But while we're still alive, lets put up one hell of a fight!"Our commander yells, and we cheer.

And we do put up a hell of a fight. For every soldier on our side that drops, we take down 5 NS. Then I feel an explosion in my chest. I gasp. I fall to my knees, and drop to the ground. The world fades around me. I can sense my consciousness wander. My soul wants to hold onto my body, but it lets go. So then we drift. It's like waking up in the middle of the night, but you're so groggy you only remember half of it, and you don't really know what's happening. Oh crap! Sorry, forget to tell you guys. We have respawning chambers. For every soldier that falls in battle, their consciousness and soul get transferred into a new genetically engineered body, waiting for them.

Yeah, I know. And we were complaining about the NS being too high tech, but hey, they got those bomb deflector shields. Anyway, every soldier is tagged in the rebirthing banks, which story thousands of clones, each one ready for a new inhabitant to be stored inside it's body. Ya know, I actually enjoy that sense of eternal peace when you die. You don't have to worry about anything else. You just drift off, until you wake up into the cold rebirthing chambers and the unforgiving battlefield. Welcome to my life.

* * *

So naturally, as I wake up, I wake up in a tube, inside another body. The first thing that hits me is that I'm cold. Well, I'm always cold. Clones are preserved in freezing temperatures. But almost immediately, as the chamber recognizes life signs in the clone, it shoots me out of the tube, and into another chamber, where a dozen others are already gathered. I nod at them. My respawned squad. They merely glance at me, and then look down at the battle net screen, which is a holographic real-time live map of the battlefield. Soon enough, our commander enters.

"Okay, so that operation clearly did not work out well. We're being reassigned to one of our strongholds, called the Courtier. We'll be one of many squads to reinforce the base, as the NS will be hammering us. We'll be leaving tomorrow, but stay on stand by. We may have to leave sooner,"he says. We all nod. Some of our shoulders slumped. Others simply nodded and left. Me? I just stood there, observing the holographic map. Slowly, as everybody else leaves, I use my hand to scroll through the area. Nobody really wanted to say it, but our hold on the moon was significantly weaker than it was half a year ago. We were losing. It was as simple as that. The New Sovereignty lead many traps like the disastrous operation we just ran, and eventually, we were getting worn down. To move straight out and attack the Courtier was a bold move. They must be getting stronger. I zoom in on the base. It was a huge hexagonal fortress, complete with steel catwalks and turrets. But even a mile out there were troops and infantry surrounding the area.

How did they hope to bring this place down? I guess that was a question for tomorrow. We'll just have to find out.


End file.
